


You Broke Into My Home (And Stole My Heart)

by yesiamsleepy



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Breaking and Entering, F/F, Fluff, accidental breakin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2020-01-16 15:46:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18524623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yesiamsleepy/pseuds/yesiamsleepy
Summary: All Lena wanted to do was go home after a long day at work and sleep. An unexpected visitor however derails her plans (though maybe not for the worse).Or,The breaking and entering au.





	You Broke Into My Home (And Stole My Heart)

**Author's Note:**

> All the love and gratitude to [@happyandstupidunicorn](https://happyandstupidotter.tumblr.com/) for beta-ing this mess and for oceans of patience she showed. I can't even begin to describe the level of dedication. She's a saint.

It wasn’t often that Lena felt grateful for having an overprotective brother who _insisted_ she carry a taser in her purse. And mace. And a baseball bat. Not that she listened to the last suggestion (she wouldn’t have listened to even the first one, but a shiny new device had shown up at her doorstep one morning, wrapped in black ribbons, complete with a card that said _USE ME_. Well, no one ever accused her brother of lacking flair).

In her defence, she lived in one of the safest cities in the world. Crime was at an all-time low thanks to human law enforcement agencies actually being held accountable by the Supers. Her job had pretty regular hours and being a reclusive introvert meant she rarely, if ever, was out late partying. The most dangerous thing in her life was the fact she often left her laptop plugged in on her bed while she fell asleep. So, _excuse_ _her_ for taking Lex’s safety diatribes with a grain of salt, an unintended consequence of his recent trip to Gotham (now that was a city where everyone should invest in 24/7 personal security).

So, it wasn’t often Lena was anything but mildly annoyed at her oldest sibling’s antics, but as she slowly crept into the dark definitely-not-empty apartment, taser clutched firmly in hand, cell phone in the other, Lena could only thank whatever lucky stars led to her actually carrying the one purse that housed the electric device.

In hindsight, it could have been worse. At least whoever it was trying to rob her, was not the brightest of the bunch. Not only did her apartment have nothing of value (except her laptop which she was carrying), but the idiot had actually decided to take a break in the middle of a burglary to watch TV. Just a casual movie in the middle of a B&E. _Honestly…_

It was, in fact, the TV which had alerted Lena that not all was alright. She did not watch television. It was nothing more than a worthless ornament in her apartment she had bought with the hope of _maybe I will actually use it._ She hadn’t. The last time the TV had even been turned on was way back in July when Jack and Sam had tried to get her interested in men’s soccer. Safe to say, it hadn’t worked.

Careful, so as to make no noise the brunette slowly advanced on the distracted culprit. She could barely make out the boots, illuminated by the glare of the TV, now running some kind of infomercial, sticking out from the edge of the couch. Judging by the angle, the intruder was lying down fast asleep. Apparently, the _best_ thing to do when you break into someone’s home was to have a little nap. _What was the criminal population of the world even coming to_?

Still, she was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth. If the universe decided to make it easy for her, she was going to take it. Having already taken off her heels, the brunette padded silently forward. So far, it appeared to be only the one idiot. Good.

It would seem surprise was on her side, which was good, since it was the best chance she had. Sure, her self defence lessons had cost a small fortune, and she was reasonably certain she could hold her own. However, she would much rather it did not come to an even fight.

She took a moment to psyche herself up, the taser in her hand helping reassure her. For the first time in her life, she was glad she had it. Not that she would ever tell Lex. The world wouldn’t be able to handle how large his head would grow if he knew.

Lena waited with baited breath, checking for signs of movement, counting seconds under her breath

_One._

_Two._

_Three._

The robber, it seemed, was dead to the world.

Ignoring the rush of the blood in her ears, Lena lunged forward the last few steps. Asleep or not, she had no intention of giving the burglar time to retaliate. In one smooth motion, which she would _definitely_ be proud of later, the brunette positioned herself in front of the invader and took aim.

And promptly froze.

Standing between the couch and the tv, Lena finally got a good look at the person sleeping on her couch. Her jaw hung open as her brain finally caught up to what she was seeing. Slowly she lowered the weapon, thankfully, not having fired it. _Not that it would do much good anyway._

Because, lying on her couch, clad in the distinctive blue and red, though it seemed more black in the dim glow of the screen, was the unmistakable form of Supergirl.

 

* * *

 

The soft light of dawn filtered through the curtains, alerting Lena to the passage of time. And to the fact she had indeed lost whatever chance she had of sleeping. _Who needed sleep anyway when there was adrenaline and panic to fuel you_?

Those, Lena had in plenty.

She had contemplated for hours what to do about the sleeping hero. There were no obvious signs of injury, for which she was grateful. She had tried a few nudges only for the blonde to bat her hand away and snuggle deeper into the couch. It was obvious the other girl was exhausted, and a quick google search was enough to tell her why. It seemed all of National City had decided to break down on one single day and the Kryptonian had been run ragged. It was a testament to her abilities that Lena hadn’t even known about the myriads of problems that cropped up and surely a little sleep was warranted.

_Did Kryptonians even sleep? The snoozing blonde in front of her seemed to point to yes._

Finally, she had decided to let her be, opting to deal with the hero in the morning in order to catch some sleep herself. Only the peaceful slumber the occupant of her couch was so happily engaged in seemed to elude her.

_Why her? Why her flat? Did Supergirl just break into a random house because she had to sleep? Or did she specifically choose her place?_

She was well aware all of these were pointless questions with no real answers. Yet, her brain refused to shut up. Which led to her current predicament – exhausted, and wondering what an alien god would like for breakfast.

And to think Jack called her life boring.

 

* * *

 

It was almost 10 am by the time the blonde finally stirred. About time, too. Lena had already cooked, cleaned, cooked again, showered twice and was getting _this_ close to going for a run to dispel some of her nervous energy. And she _hated_ running.

She tried to busy herself with answering some pending emails, so as to not startle the other girl by creepily hovering around her. _Though, who was she kidding, she was definitely hovering. How often did you end with a napping superhero on your couch?_

An arm stretched lazily as consciousness finally caught up to the alien. She grumbled quietly, clearly not happy to be awake yet, looking more like a 5 year old about to head for school and not the savior of humanity.

With great effort, she finally sat up on the couch, still yawning, though not yet deigning to open her eyes yet. Clearly, holding on to the last vestiges of sleep was more important than finding out whose apartment she had broken into. Honestly, it was the cutest thing Lena had ever seen.

Rubbing her still closed eyes, the blonde finally opened her mouth to speak

“Fooooood.”

_What on earth?_

To say the demand startled Lena out of her fond gazing would be an understatement. She could have expected anything else. A small ‘hello’? Sure. A ‘thank you’ for letting her hijack the couch? Understandable. An apology for nearly scaring her to death? She would have liked that. But nothing could have possibly prepared her for the adult shaped toddler demanding sustenance. Idly, Lena wondered, if for some bizarre reason, the blond had _indeed_ been turned into a child, mental age-wise at lease.

The next words quickly dispelled the notion however.

“Alex, I know you are there.”

The irritated hero finally opened her eyes, her hunger apparently winning out over her need to remain asleep.

“Super hearing, rem— You’re not Alex.”

To say Lena did not enjoy the look of absolute shock on the Kryptonian’s face would be a lie. A frown marked her perfect features as a crinkle appeared above her brows, giving more credence to Lena’s adult-sized toddler theory. With great difficulty, she swallowed her laugh, only an arched eyebrow giving away her amusement of the situation.

“You think?”

If possible, the blonde became even more flustered than before. Two points of colour rose on her cheeks as she struggled with the blankets trying to untangle herself. Unfortunately for Supergirl, the blankets proved an even tougher opponent than Earth invading aliens and she finally gave up with a huff.

“What are you doing in my apartment?”

“Your apartment?” The other eyebrow joined its twin in incredulity. “You’ll find, Supergirl, this is _my_ apartment.”

The words finally seemed to reach the blonde. Deep blue eyes widened as she looked around frantically, clearly looking for familiar items and finding none. “Wait, what floor is this?”

“8th, wh— oh.”

Understanding dawned as she carefully looked over the blonde. Despite being covered in Hello Kitty blankets, that Lena kept solely for the times Ruby would sleep over, there was something distinctly familiar about the blonde that the brunette hadn’t been able to shake. And suddenly, it became clear.

“You’re the new girl in 9B!”

A small whoosh and a gust of air were all that met Lena’s sudden realization. Supergirl was gone, a slightly crumpled pillow the only evidence of her ever having even been there.

_Shit._

 

* * *

 

“Aunt Lena, where are my hello kitty blankets?”

Lena winced slightly at Ruby’s shrill shriek, especially considering she was not even five paces away. She opened her mouth to reply before remembering _exactly_ what happened to those particular blankets.

Ever since Sam had moved to National City, both the Arias had made it a point to not let Lena retreat further into her hermit-like tendencies. As a result, the Friday Night movie tradition (also known as Ruby making Lena and Sam watch every Disney movie ever night) was born.

It usually started with Sam picking up Ruby and some food and arriving at Lena’s apartment at which point Ruby immediately began trying to bribe her godmother into picking her movie. Technically, they all had an equal say, but Lena tended to always side with Ruby while Sam huffed at them, so it ended up being Ruby’s choice anyway. Somehow, neither adult minded.

Sometime around the second movie, Ruby usually nodded off, leaving the two women on the talk and catch up. It was a good routine, one they were all fond off. And they followed it as often as they could. So, naturally any deviation was a noteworthy. Deviations like the fact Ruby couldn’t find her favourite blankets in their usual spot, because _someone_ in her panic, had _flown off with the damn things._

“Stupid blanket thief,” Lena muttered under her breath causing Sam to look at her questioningly. The brunette did her best to pretend not to notice the look, putting all her attention towards the glass she was cleaning, though the eyes she could feel boring into the back of her head made her believe she may not have been very successful.

Lena may have sort of accidentally-on-purpose forgotten to mention her late night house guest to her best friend. What was she even supposed to say? _Supergirl broke into my apartment and had a nice nap on my couch, and I think she’s the cute blonde with the muscles that I saw moving in last week_.

Yeah, like that was happening.

Even if she was convinced the night had really happened – which she still wasn’t completely sure –  she wasn’t about to possibly out _Supergirl_ . And telling Sam a neighbour took them was out of the question. There would be way too many questions, which, knowing Sam, would inevitably lead to _suggestive_ questions and Lena would never live it down.

Her internal panic was broken by Ruby’s approach.

“Seriously, where are they?”

By now, Sam had entirely given up whatever she was doing (which was scrolling through tumblr, not helping) and was looking at Lena with open curiosity. Twin pairs of brown eyes focused on the brunette as mother and daughter, eyebrows arched in unison, waited expectantly for an explanation. Which was completely unfair since _she_ had taught them the eyebrow thing.

She really should have seen the interrogation coming. For a thirteen year old who had allegedly outgrown all things _childish_ (her words), she was surprisingly attached to hello kitty blankets.

Just as she was about to spout off the _worst_ lie in the world, the doorbell rang loudly, making all three women jump.

“That must be the pizza,” Lena said excitedly as she made her escape. To be fair it could have been an axe murder and she would have happily answered just to get away from what was sure to be a story that she would be tormented with for the rest of her life. Maybe even longer, if Ruby actually managed to figure out the Ouija board as she claimed she was going to one of these days. She ignored the teen’s dubious look at all the takeout they already had, and Sam’s whisper yell of “ _we didn’t even order pizza!_ ” and rushed to greet her savior.

In hindsight, she should have wondered who would be calling her at an odd hour when usually none of her neighbours bothered her. She probably should have at least looked through the eyehole. But well, as everyone knew, hindsight was a bitch and woefully unprepared, the brunette opened her door to reveal a familiar blonde.

Lena froze. Again.

To be perfectly honest, Lena had wondered about what it would be like meeting the superhero again, but those were idle fantasies, what-if scenarios she never expected would come true. In fact, she had assumed the hero had already moved, never to be seen by her again. In her wildest musings, she never expected the Kryptonian to turn up at her door, looking absolutely unlike a superhero.

Gone was the red and blue suit, the cape and the boots. Instead the blonde was clad in a dark blue knit sweater, dark wash jeans and casual shoes. Thick glasses framed her face and her was tied up into a neat but intricate braid. Maybe had Lena not known about the blonde’s true identity, she too would have assumed she was nothing more than the clothes suggested, but now, she almost laughed at how the world hadn’t figured it out yet.

Even hidden behind glasses and baggy, nondescript clothes, there was something otherworldly about the girl. The brunette was sure she had never seen eyes that blue. She must have been staring too long to be appropriate because the blonde quietly cleared her throat.

“Uh, hi!”

“Hi,” Lena parroted back, still too dazed to possibly come up with more words. Clearly, she was not alone in her nervousness, she realized, as the other girl moved her hand to fidget with her glasses. And nearly dropped the items in her hand. It was only then that Lena realized she was carrying a stack of neatly folded fabric.

“My blankets!” Came a shriek from behind her causing both of them to jump. Apparently, Sam and Ruby had gotten tired of waiting for her and decided to investigate what was taking so long. It was the latter who had yelled.

“Uh, yeah,” the blonde replied, her eyes darting from Ruby to Sam, finally settling on Lena. “I figured I should return them, and thank you for—” she paused once again looking at Sam, clearly trying to decide how much to reveal, “— the blankets.”

“ _Returning_ , huh?” Sam looked at Lena, stretching out the word. If her grin was anything to go by – and knowing Sam it was everything to go by – Lena was in for a round of teasing and questioning as soon as the blonde left. Clearly, the other girl realized this too because she gave Lena a sheepish expression. Oblivious to, or at least uninterested in the drama unfolding, Ruby happily relieved the hero of her burden and went back to arrange her nest of blankets and pillows exactly how she liked it. Sam, Lena noticed, stayed exactly where she was, happy to watch the show.

There was a bit of awkward silence where none of them knew what to say.

“Well I should go—”

“Would you like to stay—”

Both paused, small matching smiles on their face, having spoken over one another. The blonde gestured for Lena to go first.

“Would you like to stay? We are having a Disney movie night,” Lena asked.

“I don’t want to intrude.”

“It would be no intrusion.”

“Plus, we are always looking for adults to keep us company,” Sam added, apparently finally deciding to be useful. “We have food and wine.”

That finally seemed to convince the blonde and she nodded her assent.

“Great!” Sam smiled, reaching forward to clasp their guest’s hand in a firm shake. “Since it does not seem like my useless friend will be introducing us anytime soon, I’ll have to do it myself. I am Samantha Arias, but you can call me Sam.”

Lena sucked in a quick breath. This was it wasn’t it? Either she would get to hear the name of Supergirl’s alternate identity, this would the last time she would see the other girl, at least like this, out of uniform, standing at her door. Surprisingly, the thought of never seeing the other girl made Lena a little sad.

The blonde paused. For the briefest moment, her eyes slid to Lena’s before going back to Sam. The next words though, Lena knew, where meant for her.

“Kara Danvers. A pleasure to meet you.”

 

* * *

 

Kara, as it turned out, was not the adult company Sam was hoping for. The blonde somehow proved to be even more into Disney than Ruby, much to the teen’s delight. She knew every song by heart, and it took only a little prodding to get her to sing along. Not that Lena minded.

Even if she did not have the voice of an angel (which she did), the whole scene would have been adorable. Kara was clearly good with kids, which given her job, Lena guessed was only natural. Her goddaughter watched with rapt attention as Kara not only sang, but _pantomimed_ the song, complete with dramatic flourishes perfectly in sync with what was happening on screen. Though Lena did have to stop her from ordering five dozen hard boiled eggs to juggle with in order to “keep with Gaston’s theme”. Sam, just laughed, the traitor, while she attempted to say no to twin puppy dog eyes.

The night drew to a close with Ruby nodding off on Kara’s shoulder. Dinner had been a raucous affair with Sam and Ruby taking turns to embarrass Lena in front of her new friend because “It’s so rare for you to like people, Lee. I gotta take the opportunities when I can.”

_Asshole._

But between school, and a Disney-marathon-slash-impromptu-karaoke-session, the excitement had proven too much for Ruby. The younger Arias had gradually slumped deeper and deeper into the couch cushions before finally giving up her fight with sleep. Kara had offered to carry Ruby to bed, but Sam waved her off, claiming she only had a few more years of doing this before Ruby would be “too old” to be tucked in. Carefully scooping up the sleeping teen, she made her way to the guest room.

Lena knew from experience she wouldn’t be back for a while. She turned to the blonde.

“So…”

“So,” Kara repeated. “Did you know you have absolutely no food in your fridge?”

Wait, _what?_

“Yeah,” Kara continued, seemingly oblivious to her confusion. “I went to get a bottle of water and almost had a heart attack.”

_WHAT?_

_Could Supergirl even get heart attacks? Oh god, would she go down in history as the evil Luthor who killed Supergirl?_

“Well, I can’t really get heart attacks I guess.” _Could she read minds?_ “But the point still stands: you need to eat better.”

Piercing blue eyes focused their full attention on the brunette as Kara turned to fully face her. A deep frown letting her disapproval be known. Lena could feel a sudden urge to go grocery shopping. Quickly, she quashed it and gaped at the blonde. This was definitely not how she imagined this conversation going. An explanation, maybe a warning to not blab, hell maybe even a stack of NDAs. Definitely not a critique on her eating habits.

 _What even was happening_?

Her reply was cut off with Sam’s return, which was probably a good thing because what she even going to say? True, her eating habits _could_ be better, god knows both Sam and Jack had given her enough grief about it. But there was no way she was admitting that.

“I think I am gonna turn in too,” Sam barely got out in between yawns. It had been long week for both of them and she wasn’t surprised her friend was going to bed early. Kara got up too.

“I should get going too. I have work tomorrow, unfortunately, and my boss doesn’t appreciate tardiness.”

That certainly piqued Lena’s interest. Did Supergirl have a boss? A day job? Both? Luckily Sam was way too sleepy to worry about polite questions.

“What kind of job do you have that makes you get up early on a Saturday?” The look of horror on her face would have been hilarious, if Lena wasn’t way too interested in a different answer.

Kara clearly had no such qualms and laughed out loud.

“A reporter. News never sleeps and all that,” she made a twirling motion with her index finger clearly meant to imitate someone, likely her boss. “I work at Catco.”

 _Well, wasn’t that interesting_.

Sam had clearly reached the end of her stamina, and stumbled back to the guest room after a hasty goodbye, leaving Lena to walk Kara out.

“I really do want to thank you for what you did, you know.”

If it hadn’t been for the silence of the night, Lena might have missed the blonde’s soft, barely mumbled words. They had stopped just shy of the open doorway. She looked up to realize the other girl had stopped walking and was now staring at her shoes.

“It was noth—” The words died on Lena’s lips as the hero looked up suddenly, pinning the brunette in her gaze.

“It was _not_ nothing,” she exclaimed. “Had it been anyone else, any other apartment, I would have paparazzi already at my door, and my life over.” Her face softened, as she smiled. “I work in news, Lena. I know how this goes.”

Lena could only nod dumbly. Her mouth felt dry, but she still managed to ask what was plaguing her mind ever since the blonde showed up at her door.

“Why didn’t you just leave?”

“Honestly? I don’t know,” Kara replied. One hand rose to fidget with her glasses, while the other lightly played with her sweater. “I broke into your apartment, and all you did was cover me in a blanket and cook breakfast. I had a feeling,” she grinned.

Lena gaped.

“You bet your secret identity on a _hunch_?”

It was official. Supergirl was crazy. The sheer altruism of her deeds already pointed a less than sane personality, but this was off the charts. Who the hell trusted a random stranger like that?

Kara however only grinned goofily.

“What can I say? I believe in you, Lena Luthor.”

 

* * *

 

Lena was about to murder someone.

She was finally going to put her expensive knife set – a gift from her mother, in a misguided attempt to get her too cook more – to good use and stab whoever thought it was a good idea to incessantly pound on her door. She was _not_ in a mood to be awake.

Cursing her fate, Lena picked up her phone, grateful she had thought to turn her brightness down when she went to bed.

9 am. Nine freaking A.M. She was going to cut whoever was on the other side of the door into tiny, _tiny_ , pieces.

It was nearly seven when the brunette had managed to return home. An emergency issue at work had needed all hands on deck. Lena had barely paused to eat or think, hands flying over keys trying desperately to find what on earth could have caused their systems to be delayed by hours.

They had finally happened upon the exact cause at around 3 am, causing a roar of cheer to go around the room. Fixing and testing took a few more hours and the young engineer had finally stumbled into bed at around seven, already half asleep, safe in the knowledge that she wouldn’t have to wake up anytime soon.

_And yet here she was._

Growling audibly, the brunette, made her way to the door, thankfully, without anything sharp in hand. The knocking paused just as she reached the foyer, just for a second, but long enough to make Lena fear she would be left without an outlet for her rage, before starting up again. She wrenched it open.

“Listen assho— Kara?”

The blonde froze, hand still in the air, mid-knock, her face turning from confused to horrified with every passing second as she took in Lena’s bedraggled appearance.

“I’m _so_ sorry,” she gasped. “I thought you would be awake. Sam mentioned the other day, you never sleep past 8?”

Lena cursed internally. Of course, the only day she decided to sleep in, and consequently looked like death warmed over, would be the day her neighbour would choose to visit. Her superhero neighbour who looked like a goddess. She tried to finger comb her hair as best as she could, knowing full well, there was no taming the mess atop her head without a shower and a dryer.

“I normally am, but I had a bit of a late night,” a yawn punctuated her statement proving her point. “Come in”.

She stepped aside to let Kara enter.

“So, what brings you here?” Lena asked. Her eyes widened when she realized how that sounded. “Not that I’m not happy you are here. But you know…”

“It’s okay, Lena. You looked about ready to punch me,” the hero chuckled. “I was baking brownies and made too many. Figured I could bring some over.”

It was only then that Lena noticed the Tupperware container tucked neatly in Kara’s arm. She had no idea how she had failed to notice it till now, considering it was a rather large one, filled to the brim with absolutely delicious looking dessert. _God, she really needed more sleep_.

Her stomach rumbled letting her know she hadn’t eaten anything since lunch the previous day. A new plan then. _Food, then sleep._

“Join me?” She asked Kara who assented with a smile.

The brunette went to get plates, but when five minutes later she still hadn’t figured out how drawers worked, the other girl took pity.

“Sit,” Kara commanded, as she started rifling through Lena’s kitchen cabinets. Within minutes, Kara had found all the plates, knives and forks and placed a large slice in front of Lena before happily digging into her own.

Lena blinked owlishly. _Had she used her powers, or was she just that tired?_

She decided she didn’t care and bit into her own piece. And almost moaned out loud.

“Kara this is amazing.”

The blonde gave her a pleased smile. “Yeah?”

“Yes, absolutely. This is the best thing I have ever tasted.” She shoved in another forkful just to emphasize her point, making the other girl chuckle.

Talking was easy. They kept up a steady chatter as they ate. Kara had a wide variety of interests, and knowledge about many different topics. Her human education, she called it, necessary details in fabricating a life lived entirely on earth.

When Lena had finally eaten enough (or _too much as Lena thought)_ , Kara once again got up to put the dishes away. The brunette would have protested but she was well aware she was about 5 seconds away from falling asleep.

“I’ll make it up to you,” she yawned.

“Sure. Next time,” the blonde chuckled.

She did not remember making it to her bed, but she must have somehow, because when she next woke, she was surrounded by her favourite pillows and blankets. The bed was criminally soft and getting up was the last thing she planned on doing.

The room was dark, the only bit of light coming from the moon shining through the gap in her curtains. And on her nightstand, illuminated by it, was a single piece of paper bearing a number and a very distinct ‘S’.

 

* * *

 

It takes Lena three days to even build up the courage to text the hero. She isn’t _stalling_ , of course not. That would be beneath her. She is just busy. So much to do. And she couldn’t just text something half-assed or, god forbid, something as pedestrian as a simple ‘Hi’. She was just taking her time crafting the perfect message.

But, after a particularly nasty fight which ended with Supergirl being covered in copious amounts of green slime ( _how does she still manage to look good?_ ), Lena bit the bullet, so to speak.

_So I guess you are covered for St. Patrick’s Day?_

She presses send without giving herself enough time to overthink it. The wall of emoji that greets her not even three minutes later, is quite possibly the most confusing yet funniest text message she has received.

It becomes a habit. Sometimes it’s a just a quick sentence or a meme that one of them thinks the other would find funny. Sometimes, it’s picturesque shots of the National City skyline taken from dizzying heights that leave Lena breathless. One more than one occasion, the young brunette could be seen tucked away in a corner, eyes glued to her phone, typing furiously with a wide grin on her face.

If her coworkers notice, they don’t say anything, though she did catch one or two suspicious smirks directed her way, when she looked up from her screen.

Texting naturally leads to visiting.

She brings over home cooked _ropa vieja._ Kara had been on a Netflix binge earlier and had sent her a drooling face emoji. After painstaking detective work, of which Sherlock Holmes would have been proud (which meant Kara told her in a text), she deduced that the blonde had been craving the dish while watching One Day At A Time. So, naturally, she has to make it.

Of course, if this means she finally uses Lillian’s knives for the first time, well, no one needs to know. She is just trying to be _neighbourly_.

YouTube is a godsend. She watches a lovely Caribbean Chef make what looks to be a fairly simple dish, _thank god,_ and does her best to follow. Lena has never been a bad cook, just a lazy one. It was always easier to just make something simple or catch a bite at work considering that’s where she spent most of her time. But anything overly complicated was well beyond her.

Even then, then it’s a near thing. Three failed attempts, and a moderately destroyed kitchen later, she has something she would consider passable. Or at the very least, she is sure it won’t give anyone food poisoning, alien constitution or not, and she considers that a success.

Kara _loves_ it.

The blonde promptly invites Lena in to share the meal. To her immense relief (and mild surprise), she hasn’t managed to completely ruin it. The food tastes _good_. Judging by the little sounds Kara lets out between each bite, she thinks so too. And if Lena, suddenly finds herself in need of a cold drink, she’s sure it’s only because she can’t handle the spices.

 

* * *

 

Kara, she learns, is a dork.

Apparently, there is nothing in this world, or any other ( _“And I would know, Lena, I have been to twelve planets”)_ that compares to the sheer brilliance of animated singing animals. Naturally, weekend movie nights, involving just the two of them, become a regular thing.

_“Think about Ruby, Lena. You have to educate her on things like these.”_

_“I think she’s plenty educated about Disney, Kara.”_

Not that Lena was really complaining.

Today’s movie was Brave and Kara was currently sprawled on the couch, still in her supersuit, happily munching on pizza and singing along to _Touch the Sky_ in between bites. Lena grinned, by now used to the sight of Supergirl completely abandoning the propriety she maintained in public in favour of acting like a kid on a sugar high.

Despite having met her as the hero, Lena initially had trouble reconciling the stoic, confident symbol of justice with her awkward, goofy friend. It was not just the glasses and the hair, though she did tease her friend on the absolutely horrible disguise. No, it was more the way they, no, _she_ stood, walked, even spoke.

Supergirl stood tall, unafraid, proudly displaying the symbol on her chest as a symbol of justice. Her words were idealistic, often poetic, meant to inspire hope. Kara Danvers on the other hand, was a blur of motion. She rambled when she was nervous, fidgeted when tense, quick to laugh and seemed to have an endless supply of bad puns.

Yet, little by little the differences were disappearing. During lunch on Tuesday, the news showed some anti-alien politician spewing the usual vitriol. Lena watched out of the corner of her eye as Kara’s back straightened and her movements stilled. She said nothing, only laid a comforting hand on her friend’s shoulder.

Wednesday, she saw Supergirl turn bright red on national TV and try to fix her glasses (though only Lena realized what the aborted hand movement was) when a reporter decided professionalism was apparently too mainstream and flirting with Supergirl live would garner more ratings (she was right, but it was still unethical). If Lena sent a strongly worded letter to the editor decrying such behaviour, well it was her duty to protect civil servants from having to encounter unsolicited advances in their line of duty.

Thursday involved a passing stranger coming up to them while on their way to brunch, sure that he had met Kara somewhere. He was just about to recollect, it seemed, when Kara, clumsy as ever, tripped over air and right into the man, only just managing to turn at the last moment to keep them from faceplanting. The near brush seemed to have both wiped his memory and any desire to figure out where he had met the blonde. A lucky accident too, since the very next day she saw him give an interview on what it was like to be saved by Supergirl.

Little by little, the pieces made sense. It was not just the glasses and the hair, it was everything else that made up the disguise. It was humbling to realize she was probably one of the few people who was allowed to see behind the veil.

As if alerted by her thoughts, the blonde turned towards her and gave a questioning look. Lena shook her head smiling. Nothing was wrong, quite the opposite. In fact, she was the happiest she had been in a while. Leaning into her friend, she tried on pass on the quiet comfort she was enveloped in. Satisfied, the other girl turned her attention back to the screen, though she did lean back slightly as well, resting some of her weight against the brunette, much to the latter’s delight.

It was warm. Comfortable. And, when the end credits rolled, if Kara just started the next one and moved to lie down with her head in Lena’s lap, well, she _definitely_ wasn’t complaining.

 

* * *

 

“You know, this is the closest your planet comes to the light of Krypton.”

Soft, almost whispered, words broke the comfortable silence that had enveloped the duo. It was one of those rare days when both of them were free, and the two had decided to celebrate by doing absolutely _nothing_. It was nice. A lazy morning indoors, consisting of watching some random cooking show (Kara) and catching up on some reading (Lena) had given way to an equally languid afternoon. It was nice, just being in each other’s presence.

They had migrated to Lena’s balcony sometime in the evening, the old couch that had ended up there after one of Lena’s many spring (and summer and winter) cleanings providing a perfect spot to curl up together. Kara had produced a tub of ice cream from Lena’s fridge, which she did not even know she had, and the two took turns eating from it while watching the sun set. All in all, it was one of the nicest days she had.

“What do you mean?” Lena quirked an eyebrow, turning to face Kara fully.

The blonde did not move from her position, eyes fixed on the distant horizon, seemingly unaware of Lena’s attention. The soft orange light bathed her in a reddish tint, turning golden locks almost brown. An almost imperceptible glow seemed to surround her. She looked positively ethereal.

Kara had long since given up finding excuses to come over, and Lena had never even asked for them beyond the first time. Today proved no different. Five minutes after Lena texted her claiming she was free for the day, there was a knock at her door with a loud blonde on the other size declaring it to be “lazy day” because her shoulder was still sore from being thrown into a building yesterday (“ _Don’t laugh Lena, it hurt”)_ and she didn't want to move.

They were both in sweats, neither seeing the point in getting dressed on a day in. While Lena had opted for a plain hoodie, Kara had quietly grinned and donned a dark blue T-shirt with a tiny red Supergirl logo emblazoned near the left shoulder.

(Her personal joke, she claimed. “ _It’s not like I can wear it in public.”)_.

A wistful smile lit up her face as she gazed steadily at the distant horizon.

“Rao, our star, was old. Your scientists would call it a red giant. It— it made everything look different.”

Lena kept quiet as halting words slowly made their way out of the blonde, afraid even a single sound might shatter whatever this moment was. Kara still did not look at the brunette, her gaze almost as far away as her mind was.

“That layer you see, just next to the sun, the red part? That's how it would be all the time.”

Lena followed Kara's outstretched hand. The sky was lit up by soft pinkish orange rays, but as the sun traversed across the sky, the colour darkened until it was a deep reddish glow. The red spread slowly till it painted the clouds and the birds flying homewards a deep vermilion.

“I wish I could have seen it,” Lena whispered. It felt like a whispering moment, fragile, not to be broken by too loud a sound.

Kara finally turned to look at her, and for the second time Lena almost gasped. The intensity in her eyes pinned Lena in her place, making it impossible to look away. Not that she wanted to.

“I wish you could have too.”

If asked later, Lena couldn’t tell you who leaned in first. Their lips met halfway, as months of barely concealed pining finally led to its eventuality. Lena had often imagined what it would be like, a secret thought sequestered away in the dark of the night. But nothing could have prepared her for the reality. The girl of steel had the softest lips she had ever felt. Kara tasted like ice cream and Lena had a new favourite flavour.

Hands came up to rest on her hair, nails dragging lightly through her scalp as the kiss became more fervent. She sucked gently on the other girl’s bottom lip causing the blonde to moan slightly. Lena knew then and there she would do anything to repeat that sound.

The need to breathe finally caught up to her. The blonde peppered a last few kisses on her jaw as Lena tried to calm her heart beat into some semblance of an acceptable rhythm. She almost did not want to open her eyes, half sure this was all a dream.

“I have wanted to do that for a long time,” Kara murmured.

The words finally caused Lena to open her eyes. Her gaze focused on Kara and she nearly had a heart attack. The last few rays of the setting sun had lit up the blonde’s hair, completely mussed up from Lena’s fingers, making it look like a halo had formed behind her. Her face was flushed, kiss swollen lips stretched into a blinding grin which the brunette felt herself returning. She looked ravishing and Lena wanted nothing more than to sink back into their earlier activities.

Her lips quirked. “Yeah? Why didn’t you?”

If possible, Kara’s face became even redder.

“Well, you were already being so nice with the secret identity thing and me showing up here thing, and– oh Rao, I tried. That time I woke you because I didn’t think to check if you were sleeping. Not that I make it a habit to listen in, that would be invading your privacy. Which is why I wasn’t listening. And–”

“Breathe Kara,” the brunette cut her off with a chuckle. Kara’s mouth closed with an audible snap, an adorable pout replacing the previous motion. Lena wanted to kiss it off her. _Keep it together, Luthor._

“I wondered why you hadn’t realized I was sleeping,” she continued. “I guess that explains it.”

“Uh, yeah. I kind of... uh, accidentally... tuned into your heartbeat the previous night?”

A sheepish expression settled on Kara’s face as she nervously fidgeted with her fingers.

“It’s just soothing, but I stopped as soon as I realized. So yeah, I was super focused on keeping my powers in check and on the fact that I wanted you to like me. And then you looked so pretty— not that you don’t always look pretty, but you also kinda looked like you wanted to murder me for waking you up. So, I just didn’t say anything,” she finished guiltily, a sheepish expression on her face.

Lena’s grin widened.

“So, the reason you brought me brownies, and woke me up, was because you were planning on asking me out?” Her eyes twinkled with amusement. Well, wasn’t that _interesting_.

Kara nodded.

“And then chickened out because, you, an honest-to-god superhero, were scared of my sleep deprived homicidal tendencies?”

A smile broke out on the blonde’s face at the light teasing.

“In my defence, I fully believe in your ability to destroy anyone who messed with your sleep.” She pretended to shudder, causing to Lena to laugh out loud.

The sun had fully set by now, a few stars already twinkling into existence. A surprisingly full moon, unmarred by clouds in the sky, was their only source of illumination. Cars honked, and trucks roared down below on the street, National City absolutely unbothered by something as mundane as the approaching darkness, wholly unconcerned that Lena’s life was being turned upside down in the best way possible.

“Well then, Ms. Danvers,” the brunette whispered when their laughter finally subsided, knowing full well the blonde could hear her. Blue eyes, turned into inky pools by the low light, stared back at her, waiting. “It seems you had one job, but you failed quite miserably at it.”

Her statement was met with an indignant squawk of protest mixed with amused laughter. Lena grinned.

“I guess it’s up to me now. Would you, Kara Danvers, like to go on a date with me?”

A blinding smile was her answer.

“I would love to, Lena Luthor.”

And if Kara followed that statement with pulling Lena closer to show her appreciation for completing this very important very difficult task, well, Lena _certainly_ wasn’t complaining.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is the YouTube video I used as a reference point for the ropa vieja recipe: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICdfmu0UHCc>  
> If any of you make it, please let me know how it turned out


End file.
